Irving signs $A180m NBA deal with Mavs, says insider

West Australian

10 hours ago

The Dallas Mavericks and Australian-born NBA star Kyrie Irving have reportedly agreed on a three-year deal worth more than $A180 million.
Former NBA All-Star guard Irving is still recovering from a torn ACL that will sideline him into the 2025-26 season.
A person with knowledge of the deal said Irving was declining the $US43 million ($A66 million) player option in the final year of his current three-year contract. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the deal isn't expected to be finalised until July 6.
The new contract, worth a reported $US119 million ($A182 million), will align Irving with co-star Anthony Davis, who joined the Mavericks in the seismic trade that sent Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers in February.
Davis has three years remaining on his contract, with a player option that now will be the same season as Irving in 2027-28.
The agreement with Irving came on the eve of the NBA draft, with the Mavericks poised to take former Duke star Cooper Flagg with the No.1 pick.
Irving also is a Duke alum, as is young centre Dereck Lively II. Once the nine-time All-Star returns from his injury, Irving, Lively and Flagg expect to be in the starting line-up if they are healthy.
The 33-year-old, Melbourne-born Irving came to the Mavericks in a 2023 trade after a tumultuous tenure in Brooklyn. The idea was to pair him with Doncic, and a year later the duo led Dallas to the NBA Finals for the first time in 13 years.
The decision to send Doncic to the Lakers elevated Irving's status, although Davis's championship pedigree with the Lakers essentially put the two on even footing.
Irving, who has averaged 23.7 points and 5.6 assists over 14 seasons, and LeBron James won a title together with Cleveland in 2016.
Davis went down with a groin injury in his Dallas debut, and before he could come back, Irving sustained his knee injury about a month after the Doncic trade.
Sceptics were plentiful when the Mavs traded for Irving, who wanted out of Brooklyn after three and a half seasons of disappointments on the court and plenty of drama off it.
Earlier in the season he was dealt to Dallas, Irving was suspended by the Nets for eight games after his repeated failure to "unequivocally say he has no antisemitic beliefs".
That came shortly after Irving refused to issue the apology NBA Commissioner Adam Silver sought for posting a link to an antisemitic work on his Twitter feed. Irving also wound up losing his long relationship with Nike.
Irving also missed much of the 2021-22 season because of his refusal to get vaccinated against COVID-19, which left him essentially ineligible to play in Brooklyn's home games because of New York City pandemic rules.